what format for 3hours on dvd-r

[disastermaster]

I`ve got 6 half hour video clips captured on my pc. They are all captured at full res (dvd size) avi`s with the huffy codec. I have got to put all six episodes on to dvd-r with a basic menu. I want to keep the quality as good as I can get.What would be the best to do, re-encode them to mpeg2 at a lower bitrate or re-encode them to mpeg1 at a higher bitrate and make a xdvd?
Ps what total size should the files be before they are authored, to make most use of all available space on the dvd-r, is there a simple bitrate calculater for this?

Cheers Disastermaster.

[epo]

352x480(576) MPEG-2 DVD (standard). 3000kbps avg. video & 224-256 audio. If it were progressive material, I would try full res. too but it is most likely interlaced? So, 3000kbps at full D1 seems to be little off limits. But it also depends, is it high or low motion, mostly dark or normal etc. Try 2-5 minutes clips for both to be sure!
Each clip should be less than 735 MB. I know, others would give lower numbers, but I have allways filled my DVDs as well as I can and had no problems even with BulPaq.

[Jpsilva]

I think the best way is allways use the full resolution.
I use encode with CCE in 1 pass VBR. Bitrate min 2000 and Max 8000.
Try!

[epo]

avg 3000 will give artifacts at D1, that's for sure. OTOH lower resolution isn't as sharp. So, it gets very subjective and material dependent. To try out couple of clips on RW costs nothing and takes only ~1 hour.

[snowmoon]

epo:

I have encoded several WS caps ( off digital cable ) that using CCE OPV Q=20 Min=0 Max=8500 and their birates varied from 2.4mbps avg to 3.3mbps avg for 704x480 video. The output was stunning. This is with both interlaced and progressive sources.